Harper Isabel Todd

Chapter 27

Crime alley, a secured league of assassins' facility

"Alright, so Willis Todd," Slade nodded to himself and to Raja as if that explained everything, "now what?"

"I kill him," Raja almost scoffed, "what else?"

"Yeah, okay, I'm down with that, but why?"

"Don't you know who he is? What he's done? All the damage he's caused?"

"Isn't he the kid's dad?" Slade asked then added, "I mean sperm donor or whatever? Wouldn't the kid want some sort of closure or something?"

"Hmm, he'd want to kill him himself," Raja seemed to agree.

"That's not what I'm saying," Slade winced, not sure why though, "I don't think anyone would want to kill their own parent."

"Rose did," Raja deadpanned, "Grant too, I think Joey's the only one who might've not wanted to kill you."

"Fair," Slade couldn't help but admit, "but Jason's in a good place now, whatever the old man did, maybe the kid wants a second chance? Or-"

"He's never had a chance in the paternal department," Raja glared at Willis, "I'll kill him and we'll get this over with."

"You know I usually don't care, but what did he-"

"You ran Adeline off, you beat your children," Raja stated and could see Slade's demeanor changing to offensive, "but at least you waited until they could fight back, not when they were toddlers. This piece of filth?" Raja pointed at Willis with one of his daggers, "he ran off the bitch doctor, he hooked the somewhat decent mother on drugs, and then he used his child as a punching bag every time he got drunk or pissed or high!"

"Jason got out," Slade didn't know why he was trying to stop Raja from killing Willis; "I don't think he'd want that."

"He got out? Do you even know what his life was like? Or have you only read the files kept on record?" Raja asked in a challenging way, "Do you know how many times he's been let down?"

"Why are you so loyal to Jason? You were one of Ra's if I remember correctly," Slade's eye narrowed in suspicion, "you were not one of Talia's."

"I was," Raja didn't deny it.

"What made you flip?"

"I am not at liberty to say," Raja took a deep breath; "I suppose I should tell lady Talia that I have found the scum before disposing of it, perhaps the Prince would want a go too."

"Yeah, you probably should," Slade wasn't going to let this go, "how'd you find him anyway?"

"Valery," Raja waited for Talia to pick up.

"The hooker?"

"There are no more working girls in the Alley," Raja felt proud in that moment, "we've implemented and funded one of Hood's plans."

"The new hush-hush center? The HIT Center?" Slade grinned when Raja nodded and watched him walk deeper into the warehouse to talk to Talia.

That baby made them all soft, the Harper Isabel Todd Center, not that anyone knew what the acronym meant, was a recently refurbished abandoned building in the alley where people could learn self-defense, dance, music, languages, they could sleep, eat and live there if they chose; no questions asked. It was still whispers and rumors, but the ones in need crossed the city to get there. It was greenlit by the government; he had made one of the senators in Star City sign on papers not the one he beheaded, and of course league funding and supervision, obviously. It all made sense, well not all, why was Raja so invested in Jason Todd's legacy? Harper is adorable, but Raja's loyalty to Talia and Jason came before the baby even existed. Slade needed to do some digging.